David Letterman and wife Regina Lasko step out for Kennedy Honors

Late-night talk show host David Letterman was honored at the 35th Annual Kennedy Center Honors on Saturday night in New York. There to help him celebrate was his wife, Regina Lasko.

Lasko, a former staff member on Letterman’s show, began dating Dave in 1986. Their son was born in 2003. Normally, the attendance of a spouse at a prestigious ceremony wouldn't be particularly noteworthy. However, Lasko's appearance marked what may have been the couple's first public outing together since the Letterman blackmail scandal of 2009.

Back then, Letterman admitted to having had an affair with an assistant and told authorities that a staff member was attempting to blackmail him with the information. Rather than pay up, Letterman went public on his show, apologizing to Lasko, who he married just a few months before, in front of his late-night audience.

"My wife, Regina, she has been horribly hurt by my behavior. And when something happens like that, if you hurt a person and it's your responsibility, you try to fix it. At that point there is only two things that can happen: Either you are going to make some progress and get it fixed, or you're gonna fall short and perhaps not get it fixed. So let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me."

Of course, none of this was alluded to at the Kennedy Honors. Letterman was introduced by Stephen Colbert, who praised Letterman for his "stupid" comedy. "Dave was stupid. Dave was ours. Dave was like us," Cobert said. "We wanted to throw things off of buildings... We would love to stick our heads out the window of 30 Rock and yell at passers-by, 'I'm not wearing any pants!'"

President Obama also poked fun at Letterman: "It's different when you're not the one with the mic, isn't it, Dave? You're looking a little stressed, aren't you? I'd also point out it's a lot warmer here [at the White House] than it is on Dave's set."